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Civilization by the Numbers (The OECD's "Better Life Index")
American Thinker ^ | 06/18/2013 | Kim Zigfeld

Posted on 06/18/2013 5:28:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has published the results of a study which evaluates 34 major countries around the world against a set of eleven criteria to produce what OECD calls its Better Life Index (it's a Eurocentric list; two glaring omissions are China and India; only two of the 34 countries are from Asia).

The BLI basically indicates the best places to live on the planet. The USA does remarkably well in the study, and if there's a biggest loser amid the BLI results that nation is Russia.

The way OECD presents (or "visualizes") its data is as fascinating as the data itself. On its website, you can assign your own level of importance to each of the eleven criteria and produce your own customized list of countries ranked from one to 34 based on your personal set of life priorities. The visualization is fully animated, so the country rankings dance and reorganize before your eyes as you adjust them.

Then, if necessary, you can call the moving van. The eleven criteria can be organized into four groups: Group A would be the financial group, including housing, income, and jobs. Group B would be the security group, including safety, environment, and health. Group C would be the intellectual group, including education and civic engagement. And Group D would be the psychological group, including community, life satisfaction, and work-life balance.

If you maximize only the Group A financial criteria, North America rules the roost. The USA comes out on top with Canada in third place. Switzerland is between them. Maximize Group B security criteria, and Canada still appears in the top three. But the USA and Switzerland disappear, replaced by Australia in the top spot and Sweden in third.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: civilization

1 posted on 06/18/2013 5:28:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

CLICK HERE TO DETERMINE WHICH COUNTRY YOU WOULD PREFER TO LIVE IN BASE ON YOUR PERSONAL CRITERIA:

http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/#/11111111111


2 posted on 06/18/2013 5:29:58 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

These national rankings are too often skewed, giving socialism and socialized medicine points because they are “fair”.


3 posted on 06/18/2013 5:37:13 AM PDT by tbw2
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To: SeekAndFind

This article was named falsely.
As a notorious russophobe, Kim Z. could just have called it ‘Russia sucks’.
Probably didn’t it to make it look less like an agitprop which it really is.


4 posted on 06/18/2013 5:46:54 AM PDT by cunning_fish
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